Goodbye
by CTRH-5
Summary: Snowy cliffs are not a good thing for members of the Church family. This is my version of how Allison died.


_**This is the first thing I've written that I feel good about to publish so go easy on me?**_

* * *

Her breath was a constant cloud of mist obscuring her vision as she struggled through the deep snow. Her armor did little to keep out the bite of the cold yet she could hardly feel it. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, numbing her to almost everything except for the fear that made her want to do nothing more than burrow into the snow to hide from the dark armored elite chasing her.

Her squad was dead, all killed by the single alien chasing her. Her radio had nothing but static in her ear. They had lost contact with command four days ago. There was no help coming.

 _Alone_.

That was the one thought that ran through her mind as she fell behind a large rock. Pushing herself up out of the snow, she looked at the read out on her assault rifle. 32, a full magazine.

Her last magazine.

Her head fell back against the rock, her breathing still ragged from her struggle to reach cover. The wind began to pick up, stirring up snow and dropping visibility to just a few meters. A guttural roar rose over the dull hum of the wind, startling her and making her clutch her rifle to her chest. She forced herself to take a deep breath, to steady herself.

 _I can do this. I've taken on a dozen mercs at once. One alien can't hurt me._

She slowly peaked around the rock. The black form of the elite was only 3 meters away. She watched as it turned its head side-to-side, throwing herself back behind the rock when the elite looked right at her. It roared again. She flinched at the volume, for a moment thinking the creature was far closer than it had seemed. After taking one more deep breath, she stood, aiming her rifle where she had seen the alien.

The alien was nowhere in sight.

She heard snow crunch to her right. Too late, she twisted squeezing the trigger, emptying her magazine in seconds. The dark elite roared, angered, and swung its plasma rifle up. The gun connected with her helmet with enough force to lift her several feet from the surface of the snow. She sailed backwards, her helmet flying off her head and disappearing into the snow filled air. She landed in the snow with a quiet but painful ' _poof_ ' as some of the ice crystals flew into the air. All of the air left her when she hit the hard packed ice and rocked hidden beneath the fluffy white blanket.

She could only lay there, gasping for breath. She felt numb. Panic surged through her when she realized it was not the cold giving her that feeling. Below her waist, she felt nothing.

She heard the alien approaching and blindly began searching for her rifle.

The alien roared again as it towered over her, bending down and clamping its hand around her neck. She spluttered and choked as it jerked her up into the air, her feet dangling almost a whole meter from the ground. Pain shot through her entire body as feeling returned to her lower half. She would have screamed had her airway not been squeezed shut.

The Elite brought her close to its face and spoke in a tongue that she did not understand. Her response was swinging her legs up and kicking both into the chest plate of the creature. This did nothing but aggravate it. It roared in her face and threw her away from itself.

Allison watched as the alien disappeared from her site, being replaced by a fast moving rock face. The sensation of falling slowly registered in her mind.

 _Leonard._

Memories of her lover flashed through her mind's eye. The last time she had seen him stood out the most.

 _Leonard stood in front of her, a camera held in his hand. At his side stood their young daughter. Allison glanced into the camera's lens and glared at him before looking down at her daughter. Her expression softened as she saw the fear and confusion the small girl's brilliant green eyes._

 _She had her father's eyes._

 _Allison looked back to Leonard, his eyes holding fear and worry that he tried to mask with a smile._

" _One more-" Leonard began._

" _Stop it," She cut him off, slightly irritated, "You're going to make me late. They're waiting for me."_

 _She started to walk towards her waiting pack but he grabbed her hand, pulling her back to him. She scowled but the anger in her melted when she saw the tears in his eyes._

" _Leonard, come on," she said softly. "I have to go."_

 _She gave him a playful glare. "Don't make me hurt you."_

 _She pulled away, smiling at him confidently, and went to her pack. She put on the last few pieces of her gear, watching Leonard film her silently. Their child grabbed onto Leonard's pant leg and he placed his free hand on her head, trying to reassure her._

" _Don't worry," She called to them, "You'll see me again."_

 _She hefted her pack over her shoulder and walked back to them. She knelt in front of her daughter, brushing her vibrant red hair out of her face and placing a gentle kiss on her forehead._

" _Hey now," Allison spoke softly as the girl began to cry. "There's nothing to cry about little soldier." She wiped some of the child's tears away with her thumbs. "I'll be back in no time, you'll see."_

 _She kissed her daughter's forehead one last time before standing. Leonard had let the camera fall to his side as he watched her say goodbye to their child. She let her pack drop to the ground and hugged her lover tightly. She felt her cheeks become wet and was shocked when she realized he was crying. Leonard had never been a man to shed tears. She pulled back slightly and kissed him. She kept her lips pressed to his until she felt her own tears begin to fall. She pulled out of his embrace and quickly reclaimed her pack, keeping her head bowed as she past him. She could feel his gaze burning into her back as she walked away._

" _I hate goodbyes." She mumbled angrily, wiping at her eyes._

She did not know how long she had been falling. The top of cliff seemed to be kilometers away and getting even farther every moment. Pain exploded in her as she landed in icy water. The world turned murky and dim as she sank deeper into the water. Bubbles floated upward all around her, taunting her as water filled her lungs, numbing her from the inside out. Her vision faded, and in the darkness, she saw Leonard and their daughter.

 _Goodbye._


End file.
